The federal government controls and dictates the regulation of the nation's hazardous waste through major laws. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) 1976 and its 1984 amendments, regulate and manage the disposal of currently generated waste. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Composition and Liability Act (Superfund) of 1980 directs its attention to financing cleanup of abandoned waste disposal sites. These two laws are primarily directed to industry which generates 99% of the nation's hazardous waste as residual by-products. It is estimated that by 1990 this level of hazardous waste production will have reached 280 million metric tons and will have cost many billions of dollars to meet federal compliance standards for safe disposal.
The Environmental Protection Agency has been charged by the federal government with enforcing laws for disposing of hazardous waste. This agency has over 400 specific waste streams listed that require regulation and which fall under broad categories such as waste oil, halogenated solvents, non-halogenated solvents, pesticides and herbicides, metal liquids and sludges, radioactive liquids and solids, mixed waste, etc. Of these many waste streams, it is currently estimated that nearly 90% are managed at the industrial site with no more than 10% being shipped off-site for treatment and disposal. New RCRA laws coming into effect will greatly increase stricter operation of landfills and surface impoundments and will include such requirements as double liners, ground water monitoring, leak detection and leachate collection. It is estimated that these new rules will encourage industry to seek new technology such as incineration, chemical oxidation and chemical stabilization rather than to choose to operate under rigorously enforced landfill operations. Incineration and chemical oxidation methods have not met with public acceptance in the past due to the possibilities of air pollution during their operation. Chemical stabilization, on the other hand, has not suffered this stigma and has the added advantage of being utilized on-site as end pipe treatment allowing the waste to be solidified for safer transport and acceptable landfill disposal. Of the various stabilization techniques being utilized and in development today, encapsulation and solidification methodology holds great promise.